Tyre damage

LostKiwi

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Thanks for that. Any recommendation on replacement tyres? Nice balance of price and wet weather performance?
Strangely given your bad experience many on here like Uniroyal Rainsport 3s.
I have them on 2 of our 5 cars and will be adding them to another soon.
 

Wighty

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Thanks for that. Any recommendation on replacement tyres? Nice balance of price and wet weather performance?
Uniroyal Rainsport are good well priced tyres , A rated in the wet . Lot of forum members like them , me included .
 

A.J.

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Don't bother with Pirelli P Zero. I have them on mine and I think they can be quite noisy are not good in the wet :(
 

John Laidlaw

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Goodyear assymetric 3 , Uniroyal RS3, Michelin PS4 and Vredestein Ultrac Vorti are all good
 

L John

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There is a date on the tyre wall , it is 4 numbers long , something like 2315 which means the 23 week of 2015 . What date is the tyre ?

I'd love to know the date of that tyre.
From the look of the dry edge of tread I wouldn't be surprised if it's over 10 years old.
 

Headhurts

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Clearly there are serious issues with the one pictured, plus presumably with the other too if it is as you say.

I have a very hard time believing the statement you were given that they were new last year. If they were, then they were either seriously faulty when supplied and should have been returned/replaced by the previous owner when these conditions became apparent in their ownership, or they have effectively been wrecked at some point since by brutal driving.

The other possibility is that the tyres were indeed new to-the-car last year, but not new tyres but part-worns.

Stretching things a little further, there's an outside possibility that they were *new* but had been on the rack 10-12 years unsold .. there was a report last year - that I can't now find quickly - arising from a check undertaken by I think the AA, which threw up the breakdown of materials in a percentage of old-stock tyres of such ages when eventually sold.

The report concluded that materials-degredation can be present after some number of years hanging around, and that affected tyres would not only not have a normal use-life but further would either present with or would later display damage/deterioration such as blisters, cracking, pops, delamination, eccentric/localised wear, and a deal more.

The report concluded that existing sidewall data should also include a clearer/better date of manufacture, and that a time-limit should be established after which tyres should be withdrawn and returned for recycling.

I doubt the third of these is actually very likely in your case as the tyre I see in your photo is junk and has been for some time already.

If you bought the car just a few weeks ago like this it was effectively an MoT failure at that time for this one tyre alone. Had you been stopped for a routine safety check while driving it home it would have been classed as a dangerous tyre and you would have been required to attend to it. If the other side is the same then either you would have needed to be carrying two spares in order to be able to resume your journey, or you'd have had to call a tyre firm out and pay for two new tyres, fitting and callout.

So then ...

First things first, make the car safe! Doesn't matter what the rights and wrongs are right now, stay safe and don't risk what could be a serious accident.

I wouldn't drive it any further than the nearest tyre place, and certainly wouldn't do any speed for any distance .. lose just one to a blowout and you are potentially an accident victim ... add-in 70mph on a motorway with a couple of lorries around and both steered-wheels affected, and ... well, don't! Just don't!!

Afterward ...

The tyres would have been in pretty much this condition when the car was sold to you, as just a few weeks would have added negligible further wear unless you have somehow racked up 3/4/5K miles yourself since you had it.

In any event however if the visible tread wear on the photo is indicative of the rest of the tyre, looks like you were sold a car with (some) tyres that needed changing right away ... a fair-minded seller would have fitted new tyres beforehand, or would have dropped the asking to compensate for unavoidable immediate further expense by you just to stay/be legal.

Was it a private sale or from a car dealer? If private, strictly speaking you bought the car as-is and are responsible for anything discovered afterward ... unless it went on your credit card, in which case you could involve the issuer in a recovery challenge/claim.

If from a car dealer then you could at least involve Trading Standards about the dangerous condition when sold ... might work, might not.

Either way however, if you feel a conversation with the seller is appropriate you should just go back and let them know how you feel ... just set out the facts for them, and your need to see a fair response. They might be fair-minded after all and come to some arrangement. If not however, then if the conversation were mine they would be wearing the useless tyres when I left.

Depending on where that conversation finishes however, decide then if/how you want to chase things any further.

Bottom line, two new tyres isn't a big price for staying safe - live now so you can argue later if needed, don't wait for the other side to stump up for replacements. Also a useful lesson for next time?

Not to add further concerns, however if that's the state of the last driver's tyres, maybe not much attention was shown to the car in all the sensible/necessary other areas either. I'd get it looked over for my own peace of mind, certainly the stay-safe stuff like brakes and steering, then the awkward/costly hidden-wear stuff that will bring a surprise at some point.

A good Indie will know all of this and will happily do a nose-to-tail for you without ripping you off, though whatever they charge for that couple of hours will be something you should be happy to have spent for peace of mind as you presumably didn't have it looked-over before purchasing. Plus any findings could also be useful if you decide to challenge the seller.

If you don't know a good Indie, I'm sure that if you mention your location many here will be happy to make recommendations for you.

But remember, you should fit those new tyres quickly, please stay safe.

Good luck.
Superb reply, very thorough.

That tyre look pretty old to me.

Robin
 

John Laidlaw

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Superb reply, very thorough.

That tyre look pretty old to me.

Robin
Indeed a thorough reply, I’m a few words sort of guy! Worth noting some of these online tyre retail warehouses have been know to shift old rubber which is why they can discount so high....
 

JBell

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My first thought was a pothole pinch problem that caused it. I will speak to the tyre fitters and let you know their opinion. Thanks for all your help.

That was my thought.

Put some new Uniroyals on, camskill is the cheapest, I am on my 3rd set and they are brilliant
 

Pathfinder

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Sidewall damage caused when the tyre hits the verticle edge of the pothole. Like a knife through butter.
 

Paul Goff

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Tyres! The blind spot of the Great British Motorist.

A worryingly large proportion of them are perfectly happy with black, round and got through the last MOT test! Hence all the Ditchfinders for sale.

Of course, car dealers take full advantage of this and gleefully fit ditchfinders to their stock. A local small dealer here had a very nice Audi A6 Quattro Avant V6 diesel for sale, £14000. When I first saw it there were well worn Continentals fitted, but our hero assured me that it would have new, and a new MOT before sale. A week later it was all shiny and sporting 4 Landsail or similar!

A quick look at the Facebook sales pages shows much the same, about 3/4s of the ads selling wheels/tyres don't provide ANY information about the tyres beyond sizes and a very simple appraisal of condition! No make, model, load, speed.

You don't have to go far to find very different attitudes, over the Channel will do, a sneaky peeky at the tyres of even the most battered Renault will usually reveal a decent set of Michelins.
 

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